Means for distributing explosive mixtures to internal-combustion engines



.April 3, 1928. 1,664,869

E. L. WAYBRANT MEANS FOR DISTRIBUTING EXPLOSIVE MIXTURES TO INTERNALCOMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Sent. 15. 1925 I 1! I l; 18

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Patented Apr. 3, 1928. I p UNITED STATES orneu.

. nwARDr. wAxBnAnr, on NEW BEDEORD, MA/SSACHUSETQS.

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Application filed September 15,1925, Serial Np. 56 417.

This" invention relates to the distribution to blow or wash off anycarbon or oil deof explosive fuel charges into the explosion posited onthe electrodes or in the spark chambers or cylinders of internalcombusplug, as Wellas to cool the plug, which makes tion engines, andmore particularly engines for exceptionally long life as well aseflicien't 5 utilizing explosive chargesof gasoline or servlce duringoperation. This is all accornto other equivalent fuel-,-- which aredrawn. into plis'hed while supplying the cylinders with the variouscylinders during the suction or explosive charges as usual throughintake intake stroke of the pistons from a carbu valves from the intakemanifold. In other retor, and ignit'ed or exploded in the cylinwords, aportion of the explosive charge 10 der by electric sparks These sparksare drawn into the int'akemanifold' is diverted to produced at the innerends of spark plugs a second manifold or reservoirfromwhichit which areinserted in the various cylinders is supplied and distributed throughsuitthro'ugh suitable openings formed in the cyl able tubes and valvesinto each of the spark ind-er head or cylinder block, plugs-. Thus,while no more explosive mix- 1 In: the usual types of spark plugs emtureor fuel is used or required than ordiployed in automobile or otherinternal coInnari ly, the charge is distributed in amore bustionengines, there is present an annular efficient manner, thusinc'reasingthe efficiency internal pocket at its inner end, between the offtheengine. The necessityfo'r'cleaning'or bushing which carries one of. thesparking replacing spark plugs is by this means great- 2 electrodes andwhich isadapted to be screwed lyreduced. The distribution is merely onei fo openings f rmediin thecylinderhead or of delivering the largeportion of explosive cylinder block and the dielectric member chargethrough the intake valve, as ordiwhich-iscentrally mounted therein andpro- .n'arily, and the remaining portion directly vided with the othersparking electrode. into t he interior of. the spark, plug.

25 Thus,.when an explosion has occurred in the With these and otherfeatures and. obcylindenthere' is a tendency for burned gas jects inView, the invention consists in. the to become entrapped in such pocket,and for method of distributino? explosive charges and some'of suchentrapped: gas to remain in the the construction, combination, andarrangepocket even after a: fresh fuel charge; has ment of partsemployed: in connectionthere'- 30 been introduced into: the .cylinder.Morewith, as will hev more fully hereinafter. de

over, any oil' whichmight-work its way past scribed in conjunction withthe accompany the piston rings and be deposited in the in wdrawings, inwhich pocket within the plug. tends to carbonize Figure 1 illustrates inside elevation azporand becomegdeposited as carbon on the plug tion ofan engine equipped with an arrange 35 and. on the ignition: points ofthe electrodes. ment or device for diverting and-distribut- 9n Hence,theobject ofthis'invention,, broadly ing a. portion of the charge from the:intake stated is to provide'ameth-od'of and means for manifold into eachof the spark plugs. removing the foul gases from the pocket asFi'gureQrepresents a detail section through well as to decrease theliability of deposition a cylinder, on the line 22 of Figure 1,;and 40of carbon on the electrodes in'a spark plug shows in endelevationythedevice as emof the type indicate" ployed: in connection with a cylinder.

In. the practice ofv the present inventiom' I Figure 3 represents adetailed section this object is attained by sweeping out the through aplug installed in a cylinder, and

burned gases from within thespark plugs also illustrateszin sectionalview a portion of and replacing or supplanting. them with the deviceused in connection with each plug. fresh-explosive charges drawntherethrough Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, 1

' from the carburetor of the engine. Thus a indicates in general a-cylinder engine perfect ignition charge is ensured at the equipped withan arrangement or device for points of, ignition 0f h el r des Wh n 1supplying the combustible mixture into the 50 nitiOIL i8 0 196- efiect dP OP Y housing'of each sparkplug; Of course, any timed nd positive ign nand explosion engine/in which spark plugs are used, and of.theexplosivemixtures in the cylinders is consisting of any number of clinders, may realized, together with the consequent debe provided orafforded with the present velopment of more power by the engine.improvement, the particular engine chosen 55 Moreover, the fresh chargeof fuel tends being.- by the way of illustration only. The

engine consists of the usual cylinder block 2, provided with thecylinder head 3, hav ng suitable openings therein through whlch sparkplugs indicated as a whole at are inserted into each cylinder. Thecylinder walls of the engine are externally cooled, as

by surroundin them with the usual water jacket supplied with watercirculated through th conduit- 6 from the radiator, and the cylinderscommunicate, by means of the usual exhaust valves (not shown) and theexhaust pipe 7, ,with the exhaust manifold 8, from which the exhaustgases are expelled or discharged. a a

During the suction stroke of the piston let of each cylinder, theintakevalve 15, which is actuated by a cam 16 on the'cam shaft 17 is liftedfrom its seat, opening the intake port 18, through which a properlymixed fuel charge is supplied to the cylinder 19 from the branches 9connected with the usual intake manifold 10, which communicates with acarburetor of any suitable type, and to which indicated as a whole at11, gasoline or other fuel is delivered from the fuel supply or storagetank by a tube 12. The fuel is vaporized in the carburetor and mixedwith a suitable proportion of air to form a proper explosive mixture tobe introduced and exploded in the cylinders. Thus far, I have brieflydescribed an engine of a usual type, and a well known method ofdistributing explosive charges into the cylinders thereof.

The spark plug 5 shown comprises the bushing or shell 81, which isadapted to be screwed into .a suitable threaded opening formed in thecylinder head or block of the engine for insertion into a cylinder. Thebushing is internally flanged, and is provided with a dielectric member50, made of porcelain, for example, which is provided with a shoulderadapted to seat on the flange of the bushing. The dielectric member 50is provided with a sparking electrode 53 extending axially therethrough,and to which current is supplied at properly timed intervals from a feedwire 54 fastened thereto by the nut 55, screwed on to the upper end ofthe electrode. The spark is completed by a second sparking electrode 57,mounted on the bushing81, which is grounded through the engine andprojects laterally toward the electrode 53, leaving a sparking gaptherebetween. The dielectric member is'held in position and againstthehushing 31 by a gland nut 60 screwed into thebushing 31, and whichwhen tightened forces the dielectric into close or tight contact at theflange provided by the bushing. The dielectric member 50 is ofdiminishing taper toward its lower end, and is spaced from the innerwall of v the, shell,v 31,. thus f'fcrming. an -internal pocketv 'or'"compartment 52. Of course, any other suitably constructed spark thedistributing 'tible mixture in the cylinder, I

partment 52 in each spark plug 5 directly were hesr sv pointsof theelectrodes, and the explosive mixture formed in the carburetor andsupplied to the intake manifold. To thisend, a hole is tapped in the.

intake manifold to fornr an outlet for a portion of the explosivemixture, so that part of it may be drawn into a distributing systemconstructed andarranged to introduce the explosive mixture into eachspark plug.

20, which is threaded at one end and screwed into the tapping formed inthe intake manifold and is connected atits other. end-to a secondmanifold or distributing reservoir 21, from which explosive charges areseparately drawn into each spark plug-during the suction or intakestrokes of the. corresponding piston; The tube 20 is preferably providedwith a valve 22, by means of which the portion of the chargedivertedfrom the manifold 10 may .be accurately regulated andcontrolled, and also a spiral trap 23 to permit an accumulationofucondensate'of the explosive fuel on stoppage of the engine. Uponagainstarting the engine, the fuel condensate in the trap 23 is suckedthrough thespark plugs and into the cylinders .so that a convenientpriming charge is available for the easy starting of the engine.

This initial priming charge is especially dd sirable whenthe engine iscold. The divertedcharge issupp'lied on the intake or suction-stroke ofeach cylinder, from reservoir 21 through atube 28 and thence through aball cheek valve in- The distributin s stem com risesatube dicated at29, from which it is conducted through a"tube 30 opening and extendinintothe bushing or shell 31' which covers the outer electrode '57.

v The charge is, thus introduced directly above the speaking pointsacting to scavenge the recess orpocket 52 of burned gas, some of -thefuel flowing or sweeping between the-points.- The explosion of thecombustible or explosive "mixture in the 'pockettends to project orthrow the burning gases outwardly into the cylinder,

thus increasing the rate -or speed of propagation of combustion throughthe combus- To allow the removal of thesparkplug from the I engine whendesired, but without disturbillg the light lb fi fconneotibn made the u3 e'tube 28 is detachably joined :on to the 1 ,gg

be removed from the engine as a unit. For this purpose, as

theispark plug 5,. the valve 29,; andyi-theltiibe '30 connecting bothmay shown, the end of the tube 28 is provided with a tapered nipple orfitting 34, seated tightly in a socket formed at the lower portion ofthe valve. The joint thus provided is maintained tight by a gland nut 36slipped over the tube 28 and screwed on to the housing 38 of the valve,so that when the nut is tightened, the tapered surface of the fitting 34is forced into close contact with the surface of the socket 35.

The channel in the tube 28 continues unobstructedly through the fitting34 and the housing 38, wherein it is normally obstructed by a ball 40resting on a seat formed in the housing. On the suction stroke of thepiston, however, the ball 40 is lifted from its seat, thus opening thechannel in the housing and allowing the explosive chargeto be drawnthrough the tube 30 and into the-the spark plug. The ball may be held toits seat by a light spring 42 reacting between it and the housing cap 43screwed on to the upper end of the housing.

While the description of the means employed for distributing theexplosive mixture has been limited to what may be con sidered apreferred embodiment, it is of course understood that any other suitablesystem or arrangement may be employed, if desired. In any event,however, the essential feature lies in diverting a portion of theproperly mixed explosive charge formed in the carburetor into theinterior of the spark plugs, while supplying the corresponding cylinderswith explosive v charges, as usual, through the inlet valves.

I am well aware of the fact that it has been proposed to prime an engineonly upon starting by causing a delivery of raw liquid fuel into thecylinders from a suitable outside source throughthe spark plugs. In thepresent invention, however, while priming may be efiected, the salientfeature resides in'conducting an explosive or carbureted mixture fromthe carburetor into the interior of each spark plug during each suctionstroke of the corresponding piston. Thus the burned or exhaust gas isswept out and a clean mixture is ensured at the sparking points ofthespark plugs during ignition so as to produce an instantaneous combustionand a development of more power and without the necessity of additionalfuel from an outside source. Moreover, the spark plugs are maintainedclean and efiiicent in operation and their life is prolonged.

Having thus described this invention, it is evident that various changesmay be resorted to in procedure, as well as in form, construction, andarrangement of the parts, without departing from the spirit or scope ofmy invention. limit myself strictly to the set forth, but

What I claim is:

1. The combination with the spark plugs of an internal combustionengine, of ap aratus for diverting a portion of the exposive mixtureformed in the carburetor thereinto, which includes a tube leading fromthe intake manifold of the engine, a tra in said tube permitting anaccumulation o condensate of the explosive fuel on stoppage of theengine, a reservoir communicating with said mainfold by said tube, and aplurality of tubes leading from said reservoir, each of which tubescommunicates with the interior of a spark plug and is provided with acheck valve permitting explosive mixture to be admitted into the spa kplug only on the intake stroke of the corresponding piston.

. 2. The combination With the spark plugs Hence I do not wish to 7structure herein of an internal combustion engine, of appara- I tus fordiverting a ortion of the explosive mixture formed in t e carburetorthereinto, which includes a tube leading from the intake manifold of theengine, a valve in said tube by means .of which the portion of thecharge diverted through said tube may be controlled in amount, a trap insaid tube permitting an accumulation of condensate of the explosive fuelon stoppage of the engine, a reservoir communicating with said manifoldby said tube, and a plurality of said tubes leading from said reservoir,each of which tubes communicates with the interior of a spark plug andis provided check valve permitting explosive mixture to be admitted intothe spark plug only on the intake stroke of the corresponding piston.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

EDWARD L. WAYBRANT.

with a

